Not Alright
by vamp926
Summary: Tag to 7x13 - Jet Lag. Did they or didn't they?


She rolled her eyes in frustration. Of course it would be when she was traveling with Tony that the hotel would mess up their room reservations, leaving them to share one room. She tossed her bag onto the couch in the room and listened as Tony sang to himself in the bathroom. Their flight had been long, awkward, and silent. Nothing much different from what had become normal though; ever since she had returned from Africa things had been… different, to say the least. What once had been their witty banter had turned into sharp attacks, like neither of them was willing to try and repair the space that had formed between them.

Tony appeared in the bathroom door, a smile on his face. Ziva knew that smile, that was his charm smile, or the "sex smile" as she had nicknamed it. She turned away from him, but she could feel his eyes following her.

"So, Zee-vah" he said, accenting the syllables in her name. "Who's sleeping in the bed?" She smiled to herself and turned to face him.

"Tony, we are both adults, I believe we can sleep in the same bed together without anything happening," she said. His smile faltered, she smirked in return. He knew that she was challenging him; either sleep in the same bed with her and do nothing, or admit that he couldn't be a mature adult and sleep on the couch. Ziva waited patiently. She could almost see the wheels turning in his head. Finally, he looked up at her, his cocky smile had returned to his face.

"Sure, we can share the bed. Now, what shall we do about dinner?"

It was later that night when, upon looking back, Ziva realized that had mended the gap between them. It had started with the nightmare.

She hadn't really thought about the implications that sleeping together would cause, and she hadn't thought about her nightmares. She hadn't had one in weeks, but for some reason, she found herself stuck in Africa, being mercilessly tortured, wishing she was dead. She must have been thrashing around and screaming in her sleep because the next thing she knew, Tony was shaking her awake.

"ZIVA, Ziva, wake up, it's me, Tony. Ziva, wake up," Tony said loudly as he shook her shoulders. Her eyes flew open and she could feel the sweat all over her body. She was shaking and she was gasping for air. She looked around the room, trying to determine where she was. It started flashing back to her, she was in Paris, with Tony, in the same bed as him, and she had just had a nightmare. She felt embarrassed. She put her head in her hands and tried to steady her breathing. It was then when she became aware of Tony's hand rubbing her back gently.

"Ziva?" he asked quietly after a moment. "Are you okay?" She ignored his question and jumped out of bed, so quickly that Tony didn't have time to respond. She flew into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. She leaned on the sink, taking deep breaths. He would never let her forget this. She had managed to convince everyone that she was fine now, that there was nothing residual left from her time in Africa, and now Tony knew the truth. She turned the faucet on and splashed cold water on her face. She took one more deep breath and then unlocked and opened the bathroom door, and found Tony with his hand raised, ready to knock.

"Tony," she said, before he could say something. "I am fine." He glared at her.

"I'm sorry, Ziva, but thrashing around in bed and screaming because you had a nightmare does not constitute as 'fine'," Tony said. She avoided his gaze and pushed past him into the room, where she returned to the bed. She rolled over on her side so she was facing the wall, pulling the blanket securely with her. She didn't want to look at him. She felt the bed move as he climbed into bed next to her and then she was surprised when she felt him pull her into his arms. She automatically stiffened.

"Ziva, relax. Trust me, I'm just going to hold you, so you know you're okay, so you know you're not alone," he said quietly. After a moment she relaxed into his arms and allowed him to hold her. Soon, she felt herself drifting off to sleep.

The next morning, Ziva found that after the incident, she had slept soundly. No more nightmares had plagued her dreams, and Tony had held her all night. He was in the shower when she woke up, she could hear the water and his voice, singing something that vaguely sounded like Sinatra. She smiled to herself. She hated to admit it, but that was the best she had slept since she had come home.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she failed to notice when the singing stopped. Needless to say she was surprised when Tony appeared in front of her, dressed in nothing but boxers.

"Morning Sweetcheeks," Tony said fondly. She grimaced at the nickname.

"I was hoping that you had forgotten about that," she admitted.

"How could I forget out first undercover assignment together?" Tony asked as he rummaged through his suitcase and pulled out pants.

"Well, in that case, good morning, my little hairy butt," she said, enjoying the glare she earned in return. She got out of bed and grabbed her clothes from her suitcase. There was no way that she would be coming out of the bathroom in just her underthings.

_Later that morning…_

"Why are you in such a pleasant mood?" Ziva asked, eying Tony suspiciously as he popped a grape into his mouth.

"I slept well last night. Why, didn't you?" She stared at him. He knew full well how her sleep had gone last night, and yet, part of her was grateful that he wasn't bringing what had happened up. "You certainly looked comfy enough." She felt her heart skip a beat, and knew that he must have been talking about what had happened after the incident. He had watched her sleep, and oddly enough, she was okay with that.


End file.
